In our study we propose a phenomenological interpretation of theatrical catharsis basing our analyses on the phenomenology of the sublime. In a first step we investigate the relation between hermeneutics and phenomenology in the description of theatrical experience. We then propose to enlarge the postdramatic and poststructuralist approaches of theatre, in which the criticism of language and drama plays a central role, through an analysis of affectivity. This step makes it possible to sketch out a phenomenological interpretation of catharsis in which this latter appears as an experience opening up on the archaic dimension of affectivity. These theoretical considerations are then applied in the analysis of Romeo Castellucci’s Orphée et Eurydice.